by S. J. West
“Why are you laying the burden of telling him on me?”
“Because he will stay if you ask him to. He loves you that much.”
“It’s not fair,” my mother says, and I’m not completely sure if she’s talking about Uncle Malcolm having to wait until the girl in the vision is born or if she means her asking him to wait.
“Have I ever asked you to do anything that wasn’t necessary?” God asks.
My mother hesitates but finally says, “No.”
“Then keep your faith in me concerning this. I love Malcolm too and only want to see him happy.”
“But this won’t make him happy. It’ll tear him to pieces,” my mother says, her own voice breaking.
“For a while, yes, but in the end he will be glad he stayed to carry out your wish. Trust me.”
“When do I have to tell him?”
“When the time is right, you will know it. And when you decide the time is right, you must also tell him that the girl’s heart must remain pure to fulfill her destiny.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“That’s all I can say for now.”
“Is that why you didn’t let him in here?” I ask. “You didn’t want him to know about his future?”
“Yes,” God answers. “I didn’t want him to know his fate until it was time. He has a lot to do until then, and I didn’t want him to become distracted.”
“What about Aiden?” I ask. “Why wasn’t he allowed to come?”
“I didn’t think you would want him to see you in your wedding dress.”
The answer catches me off guard because it’s almost a girly thing to take into consideration. But, He is God. I shouldn’t be surprised He knows about girly things too.
“No, I wouldn’t have wanted him to see that,” I reply.
God smiles. “I didn’t think so.”
“But what about Mason?” Jess questions. “What would have been the harm in letting him come in?”
“And have him face Malcolm afterwards?” God asks. “Malcolm would have been very upset if Mason got to come and he was excluded. You can tell Mason what was seen here. The three of them were the only ones who didn’t absolutely need to be here. The rest of you,” God says, looking at the other vessels, “will not be allowed to say anything about Malcolm’s future directly to him. Not until Lilly feels the time is right to tell him, and I must warn you that it will be a very long time before she does. So, please, for Malcolm’s sake, keep quiet about what you have seen here this evening.”
“How do we protect Caylin from Baal?” My mother asks. “You didn’t let us see anything about that.”
“You will have to discover the answer to that question on your own,” God says. “But I have faith you will figure it out soon.”
“You know that gets really old,” Jess grumbles. “Why not just flat out tell us what to do?”
“I only guide you,” God says. “The rest is up to you.”
God disappears abruptly ending the question and answer period of His visit with us.
Everyone remains quiet for a long while. Suddenly, I hear the dulcet tones of a flute playing and begin to feel the burden of what we learned lift somewhat with the help of Chandler’s song.
“Mom, what plans of Uncle Malcolm were you talking about?” I ask, having never heard of any future plans of his.
My mother doesn’t answer for a moment but finally says, “He told me he planned to become human after I died. He’s only remaining a Watcher to make sure I’m kept safe until then.”
“When do you think the right time will be to tell him about what we saw?”
My mother shakes her head. “I’m not sure, but from what God told us, I guess I don’t have to worry about it for a while. It might be for the best anyway. I want Malcolm to be happy for as long as he can be. If I tell him too soon, it’s all he’ll think about, and I don’t wish that on him either.”
“Death bed confession,” Jess says with certainty. “It’s the only way to go, Lilly.”
“Perhaps. We’ll have to wait and see I guess. Apparently, I’ll know the right time when it comes around.”
I sigh. “We didn’t really learn how to stop Baal though. That was the main point of coming here.”
“It was our purpose,” my mom tells me, “not God’s. He seems to think we can find the answer on our own. We just need to pay attention to our instincts.”
“Well, I think we’ve discovered all we can for one evening,” Jess says. “We should probably head back before the men get too worried about us.”
I turn to my grandfather and hug him one last time, though I feel confident it won’t be the only time in my life I’ll ever get to meet him.
“You take care of yourself, granddaughter,” he tells me. “And if you need me, just tell Jess.”
I nod as I pull away from him. “I will.”
My grandpa kisses me on the cheek and walks back to stand by Jess in the circle of vessels.
“Here we go again,” Jess warns me.
I nod, anxious to go back to Aiden.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
When we return to Jess’ living room, we’re immediately bombarded by questions from Aiden, Mason and Uncle Malcolm as they each try to ask what happened simultaneously.
“Whoa,” Jess says, holding up her hands like a reflective shield to fend them off. “Give us a minute, guys. We’ll explain everything in just a few. Right now, I think Caylin and Aiden need a moment alone.”
Jess looks over at me and tilts her head, indicating that maybe I should use the opportunity she’s given me to take my man somewhere else and have a private conversation.
I look over at Aiden, and he holds his hand out for me to take. I walk the short distance to him and grab his hand, immediately phasing us somewhere I’ve always felt comfortable, my family’s Denver home.
I don’t phase us inside the house but to the picnic table outside. The light of the moon reflects off a thin layer of newly fallen snow covering the ground. I immediately hug my arms against the cold.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell Aiden, quickly phasing inside the house and grabbing a coat from my closet. I pick up the black wool blanket lying across my bed and phase back to Aiden.
“Sorry,” I tell him, handing him the blanket, “I forgot it was so cold here. Would you rather go somewhere else?”
Aiden takes the blanket and drapes it across his shoulders.
“That’s ok,” he says. “I don’t mind the cold.”
I lean back on one end of the picnic table while Aiden remains standing in front of me patiently waiting for me to speak.
“We didn’t learn how to stop Baal,” I tell him, thinking this the most important piece of information.
“I see,” Aiden says looking troubled by this news. “What did you learn?”
“That you look really cute in a sweatshirt,” I say.
Aiden smiles, pleased by the compliment.
“Do I now?” He says. “And what else did you see?”
“I saw us at Yale a couple of times. I saw our wedding day.”
I wait to see what his reaction is, but he doesn’t seem fazed by this bit of news. I think he’s like me and already assumed we would get married one day, so it’s not exactly a surprise.
“That was why God didn’t let you go in by the way,” I tell him. “He didn’t want you to see me in my wedding dress.”
Aiden chuckles. “That sounds like something He would do.”
“I saw myself rocking a baby,” I tell him, again watching for his reaction.
“Boy or girl?”
“Girl. The first born in my family will always be a girl. And I learned our blood line and Jess and Mason’s will cross sometime in the future.”
“Really?” Aiden says, genuinely interested in this. “I guess that’s to be expected. I’m sure our families will remain close through the years so our children and grandchildren will always be around one another.”
“I guess the most important
thing we learned is that one of our descendants is destined to stop some sort of catastrophe from happening.”
Aiden’s eyes grow wide in surprise. “I have to admit that’s not something I expected you to say. Who is she? When will she be born?”
I shrug. “Her name was never said, but we saw her standing in a house built so high in the sky you could see the clouds around her. We saw her fighting Amon with Jess’ sword. I guess she’s able to wield it because our family line mixes with Jess’.”
“Our family line,” Aiden repeats a shy smile on his face. “I like the sound of that.”
My face feels flush because if I learned anything in sex ed class today it’s that you have to do a certain something to start a family.
But, to be honest, right now all I want is a kiss. A kiss like I saw Aiden give me in the first vision we saw and the promise of long make out sessions mentioned in the second. I don’t feel like I’m asking for much. But, I guess I haven’t really asked at all yet.
“Can I make a confession without you thinking I’m completely weird?” Aiden asks, breaking my concentration.
“Why would I ever think you were weird?”
Aiden lets out a small laugh, as if he’s laughing at himself. He turns towards the snowcapped mountain beyond the lake the house is built by and points to it.
“Have you ever been up to that ridge on the side of the mountain?” He asks.
“Yes, I’ve been up there with my mom.”
“Every morning of your birthday after I left your gift, I would go up there and wait for you to come out so I could see you.”
“You did?” I ask, never having realized Aiden did such a thing. “You’re right. That is weird.”
Aiden turns back to face me, and I smile at him so he knows I’m joking.
He shrugs. “I couldn’t help myself. To be so close to you but not be able to say anything was torture. So, I let myself at least see you even if it was from afar.”
“Aiden,” I say pushing off the table at my back and walking up to him, “that’s not weird. It’s sweet. I wish I had known you were there. I would have snuck up there to see you every year.”
“But that wouldn’t have been you,” he says. “You’re too good to sneak around behind your parents’ backs like that. And it’s not the way I wanted us to start out. No, I think we’ve done the right thing in waiting. It feels right. Don’t take this the wrong way but forcing myself to keep my distance from you over the last few years has been one of the few things I’ve gotten right in my life.”
I inch closer to Aiden until we’re standing toe to toe. I lift my hands and place them on the wool blanket covering his chest, hooking my thumbs around the edges until I have the blanket grasped firmly in my hands. I lean into Aiden and look up at him. He’s watching me with hooded eyes but doesn’t make a move to come in closer. He has to know what I want. I don’t see how I could be any clearer with my body language.
He raises his hands and places them on top of mine. Before I know it, we’re standing on the front porch of my Lakewood home.
I have to look confused and hurt because that’s exactly how I feel, and I’ve never had much of a poker face when it comes to hiding my emotions.
“Why?” I ask, unable to ask the whole question because if I do I might start to cry from hurt and frustration.
“It’s late,” is his answer.
He drops his hands from mine, and I let mine fall back to my sides.
Aiden takes the blanket off his shoulders and goes through the motions of folding it neatly into a square. He doesn’t look at me as he does this, like looking at me is exactly what he’s trying to avoid.
Finally, he has no choice but to meet my gaze when he hands me the blanket back.
“You should get some rest,” he tells me, his voice completely void of emotion. “I’ll see you tomorrow at Jess’ place. Sweet dreams, Caylin.”
He phases and leaves me standing there holding a stupid blanket and a broken heart.
When I walk into the house, I see my mom and dad sitting on the couch in the living room talking in hushed tones. I can hear Aunt Tara upstairs singing “Under the Sea” from the Little Mermaid and know instantly that she’s giving Ella and Mae a bath. Since I can’t hear Linc or Will, I have to assume they’re probably in Will’s room playing video games.
My mom is the first one to see me walk in. I can instantly tell she knows something is wrong with me because of the sudden frown that appears on her face.
“I’m going up to my room,” I tell her, not wanting to get caught up in a discussion about the night’s events. All I want to do is go to bed and find a way to stop my heart from aching.
I forgo actually walking up the stairs and simply phase to my room. I’m not there for even five seconds before I hear a soft knock on the other side of my door.
“Caylin,” I hear my mom say, “may I come in?”
I sigh and drop the wool blanket in my arms onto the bed. I walk to the door and open it.
“Sure, Mom,” I say, leaving the door open for her and going to sit on my bed.
My mom walks in and closes the door behind her. She looks at me as if trying to confirm her earlier suspicion that all is not right in my world.
She walks over to my bed and sits down next to me.
“What’s wrong?” She asks. “Did your talk with Aiden not go well?”
“No, the talking part went fine. I’m upset about something else. You’ll probably think I’m being stupid though,” I say, feeling sure my mom won’t understand my dilemma.
“Tell me anyway,” she urges, a half-smile playing across her lips. “Did you and Aiden have a fight or something?”
I shake my head. “No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just…”
I can’t quite make myself admit what’s wrong. When I say the words in my head, they sound completely idiotic. But, I need help figuring out why Aiden refuses to kiss me because I don’t see how my heart can take the wait any longer.
“It’s just what, sweetie?” My mom asks, patience and kindness in her voice, gently coaxing me to share my burden with her.
“Aiden won’t kiss me,” I say, watching her expression carefully.
My mother stares at me for a moment then does something completely unexpected. She busts out laughing. Not laughter from someone telling you a funny joke but laughter so hard she falls back on the bed holding her stomach because she thinks it’s so funny.
“Are you ok?” I ask her, not understanding why she’s finding my predicament so hilarious.
She nods but it takes her another minute to get her emotions under control. Finally, she sits back up.
“I’m so sorry,” she says, wiping at the tears her laughter produced. “What you said just brought back so many memories.”
“Memories?” I ask. “What kind of memories?”
“Of your father,” my mom says, shaking her head. “Good Lord he drove me crazy because he refused to kiss me.”
“Why?” I ask, never having heard this story before.
“He didn’t want us to kiss unless I was sure he was the man I loved. We were actually broken up at the time because your dad thought he was doing the noble thing by staying away from me.” My mother sighs at the memory. “Men can be completely imbecilic sometimes.”
I smile. “I can’t disagree with you on that point.”
“So, have you asked him why he won’t kiss you? I’m sure it’s not because he doesn’t want to, sweetie, not if what I saw tonight is any indication anyway.”
I shake my head. “No, I haven’t exactly asked.”
“Then ask him tomorrow while you’re at Jess’ house,” my mother urges me. “I’m sure he thinks he has some noble reason just like your father did. But, you won’t be able to fix the problem unless you know what he’s thinking. And just remember what you saw tonight in those scenes about your future. He loves you. He’s just being stubborn and you need to figure out why.”
I lean over and h
ug my mom.
“Thanks, Mom. You always know how to make me feel better.”
“Well, if anyone knows how crazy a Watcher can make you, it’s me.”
I giggle.
It’s odd to think about my mom and dad having relationship problems when they were younger. I guess all couples do at some point, but when it’s your parents you just imagine them having the perfect relationship from the beginning. I actually feel a little better knowing my mom had a similar problem to mine. If they could work through it, then I feel sure Aiden and I can too.
And she’s right. I need to keep in mind what I saw tonight. If I am destined to have the future I saw, then I know Aiden wants to kiss me as much as I want to kiss him. I simply have to find out why he is denying us the pleasure of something so simple yet significant.
I get ready for bed shortly after my mom leaves my room. Just as I crawl into it and slip beneath the covers, my phone buzzes. I reach for it thinking it’s probably Leah, but it isn’t a text from her. It’s one from Aiden.
I hope I didn’t wake you…I just wanted to let you know how much I’m looking forward to our day together tomorrow.
No, you didn’t wake me. I’m looking forward to it too.
Are you a good swimmer?
Yes. Why do you ask?
I have something I want to show you. I wasn’t sure how your stamina was. I know you have our strength but you’re also still human.
Are you challenging me?
Possibly…are you up for a friendly contest?
Depends… what do I get if I win?
Whatever you want…
Then I happily accept your challenge because there’s something I desperately want from you.
Aiden doesn’t text back immediately, and I wonder if I’ve been too forward with him again.
We also need to talk tomorrow. I still have some things to tell you about myself.
I will always listen to anything you want to tell me.
Then get a good night’s rest, beautiful. Maybe you’ll win what you want tomorrow.